Chapter 9

"However, it's only six o'clock, I don't think Gong Dali will finish his meal so quickly." Li Yifeng looked at his watch, "I guess we'll have to wait for a while."

"It's not a rush for a moment." Bao Feiyang was quite calm.

"Right, no rush. Old Fang has arranged three plainclothes investigators at the Zhongyuan Restaurant, all of them are elite. With them keeping an eye on things, Gong Dali won't be able to run away."

Hearing Li Yifeng's words, Bao Feiyang felt even more reassured. The educational qualifications of the police in the 1990s might not match those of the police a decade later, and the police equipment was far inferior, but if it came to professional skills and dedication, the police of the 1990s could outstrip the police of the 21st century by a wide margin.

"Also, I have already consulted with the top leader of the bureau, and he agreed to let me come to the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau to supervise the clearance of old cases." Li Yifeng mentioned another piece of news, "Tomorrow morning, I can officially come to the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau to take charge."

Bao Feiyang was also invigorated by this news and said with a smile, "Uncle Li, then I will intern with you tomorrow."

"Hehe," Li Yifeng laughed, "You should still follow Old Fang. I have a high profile, even with the authority to supervise the clearance of old cases, I can't rush to the front line, or it will definitely attract attention from certain people. I can only command from behind the scenes, and the front-line work will still be handled by Old Fang."

After a pause, he continued, "Old Fang is now assigning tasks inside. Soon he will lead the team to arrest Gong Dali. After the arrest, I will take you to meet him."

After saying this, Li Yifeng pointed to a few magazines in the car seat cover and let Bao Feiyang flip through them to pass the time. He then closed his eyes and leaned back to take a nap. After chasing fugitives on the grasslands of Sai for over ten days, and then receiving the news that Bao Guoqiang had been removed from the mayoral candidate list, he had been driving back all night. Li Yifeng had not had a good night's sleep for nearly twenty days. Even if his body was made of iron, he was feeling the strain at this point.

Bao Feiyang held the magazine, flipping through it page by page, but his mind was already flying to the Zhongyuan Restaurant. Why weren't the investigators sending any new updates?

Just as Bao Feiyang was about to give up, the walkie-talkie in the car crackled, "Yellow River, Yellow River, the kite has taken off, the kite has taken off."

Li Yifeng sat up abruptly, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and said, "Yangtze River, Yangtze River, hold the kite string tight, hold the kite string tight. The eagle group is ready."

"Yangtze River understood, Yangtze River understood."

Putting down the walkie-talkie, Li Yifeng said to Bao Feiyang, "Gong Dali has left the restaurant. Let's see if he is going back to the Haitian Hotel."

About ten minutes later, the walkie-talkie crackled again, "Yellow River, Yellow River, the kite has landed at the designated location, the kite has landed at the designated location."

"Gong Dali has indeed entered the Haitian Hotel." Li Yifeng's face lit up with joy. He pressed the walkie-talkie button and said, "Yangtze River, Yangtze River, immediately mobilize the eagle group, immediately mobilize the eagle group."

"Yangtze River received, Yangtze River received. The eagle group is setting out, the eagle group is setting out!"

Two minutes later, police cars from the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau sped out one after another. In a blink, ten police cars had left.

Bao Feiyang, sitting in the Xiaoli car, was somewhat stunned by the scene, "To catch one Gong Dali, do you need to mobilize so many police forces?"

"Since it's a crackdown on prostitution and illegal activities, the scale needs to be large. This way, the person hiding behind Gong Dali won't suspect anything. If only the Haitian Hotel is targeted and Gong Dali is arrested alone, it's hard to ensure that the person behind Gong Dali won't become suspicious." Li Yifeng explained with a smile.

Bao Feiyang nodded, that made sense. It was fortunate that Li Yifeng was in his position, allowing him to mobilize such a large police force to create a false impression and confuse the opponent.

About twenty minutes later, the walkie-talkie crackled again, "Yellow River, Yellow River, the kite has been picked up, the kite has been picked up, and is being taken to the old home, being taken to the old home."

"Great, we've caught this bastard!" Li Yifeng excitedly slapped the armrest.

"Capturing Gong Dali, that's great!" Bao Feiyang was also very excited. Capturing Gong Dali meant they would soon find the mastermind behind him. Once they obtained evidence of Lu Zhongcheng's involvement, they could not only clear his uncle's name with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) special task force but also reclaim the mayoral candidate qualification that Lu Zhongcheng had taken away.

"Let's go to the old home to see this bastard Gong Dali." Li Yifeng waved to the driver to start the car.

Li Yifeng didn't specify what "old home" meant. Bao Feiyang guessed that this so-called "old home" was probably a detention center or something similar.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau Detention Center by Longxi Lake. Fang Xuewen, around 35 or 36 years old, was a tall and robust man, and the largest olive-green police uniform seemed about to burst on his body.

"Old Fang, well done!" Li Yifeng praised Fang Xuewen as soon as he saw him, "When Mayor Bao returns from Japan, I'll recommend you for a commendation!"

"It's all thanks to your meticulous planning. I'm just a messenger, I don't dare to take credit."

Fang Xuewen smiled humbly and glanced at Bao Feiyang.

"You must be Bao Feiyang, right?" Fang Xuewen extended his large hand, "I'm Fang Xuewen, the deputy captain of the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Team. Welcome to our team for guidance!"

Bao Feiyang, despite his thick skin, felt somewhat embarrassed, "Captain Fang, don't joke with me. I'm here to intern with a serious attitude. Thank you for your approval."

As he spoke, he extended his hand to shake Fang Xuewen's. His hand was relatively large for a man, but compared to Fang Xuewen's large hand, it was like a child's. When Fang Xuewen applied a little force, Bao Feiyang couldn't help but wince in pain.

Li Yifeng laughed, "Old Fang, if you want to test strength, come to me! Why are you testing strength with a student?"

"Ha, Chief Li, I can test strength with you, but you have to let me use both hands." Fang Xuewen released Bao Feiyang's hand and looked at Li Yifeng with a smile.

This surprised Bao Feiyang, who was still rubbing his hand. Fang Xuewen had such a strong grip, and he needed both hands to match Li Yifeng? Li Yifeng looked so thin, but he was a hidden expert!

The detention center director, Zhang, also came over to greet Li Yifeng. Li Yifeng used to be the top leader of the Xijiao District Public Security Bureau, and Zhang and Fang Xuewen were his trusted subordinates. They were extremely diligent in handling tasks assigned by Li Yifeng.

"Where is Gong Dali?" Li Yifeng asked as they walked inside.

"He's being interrogated in the interrogation room!"

"Good, let's go see."

Bao Feiyang followed Li Yifeng quickly to the second-floor interrogation room. Through the window, Bao Feiyang saw a middle-aged man with a rough face handcuffed to a chair, with several bright lights shining in his face, almost blinding him.

So, this was Gong Dali!

Bao Feiyang's teeth clenched in hatred. It was this Gong Dali who, driven by a little money, incited the villagers to block the streets, leading to his uncle's mayoral candidate qualification being revoked and the downfall of the Bao family. This scene from the previous life was now replaying, but with Bao Feiyang's foresight, he had gradually turned the tide and taken control of the situation.

Bao Feiyang then looked at the two police officers interrogating Gong Dali and was surprised to see that one of them was Mei Lifeng. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He had tried his best to keep Mei Lifeng out of this, but Mei Lifeng had still become involved. If he couldn't turn the tide and bring down Lu Zhongcheng, not only would the tragedy of his family be repeated, but Mei Lifeng would also suffer the same fate as in the previous life...

Fang Xuewen pointed to Mei Lifeng and introduced him to Li Yifeng, "The young man is Deputy Captain Mei Lifeng of the Second Squad, with excellent professional skills and a talent for breaking through the psychological defenses of criminals." He then knocked and waved for Mei Lifeng to come out.

Mei Lifeng saw Fang Xuewen waving at him through the window and came out of the interrogation room. When he saw Bao Feiyang standing outside, he was slightly surprised but quickly regained his composure.

"Mei, this is Chief Li from the Municipal Bureau, here to inspect the interrogation work." Fang Xuewen introduced Mei Lifeng.

"Chief Li, hello!" Mei Lifeng snapped to attention and gave a standard salute.

"Hehe, don't be so formal," Li Yifeng laughed, "How is the interrogation going?"

"The target is quite stubborn. He only admits to prostitution and refuses to confess to anything else," Mei Lifeng said, "We are gradually applying measures to break down his psychological defenses."

"How long do you estimate it will take?"

"We will do our best to make the target confess by dawn at the latest."

Bao Feiyang calculated that if they could get Gong Dali to confess before dawn, they could take action during the day, and there wouldn't be much delay in terms of time.

Li Yifeng glanced at Bao Feiyang, saw that he had no objections, and nodded, "You all work hard! Get the target to confess as soon as possible, the faster the better!"

As they came down from the second floor, Li Yifeng said to Fang Xuewen and Director Zhang, "Old Fang, Old Zhang, you two work hard tonight. Keep an eye on things here and notify me immediately if there's any news."

For Li Yifeng himself, if it weren't for the concern that staying overnight at the detention center would attract too much attention, he would have stayed to wait for news. Unfortunately, at his position, the target was too big. Staying at the detention center all night would likely cause rumors to spread.

"Uncle Li, I will also stay at the detention center. I've already taken leave from school."

Bao Feiyang said. As a student, he needed to take leave from his counselor for an overnight stay in the city.

"You staying here is good." Li Yifeng nodded and had Director Zhang arrange a duty bed for Bao Feiyang to rest if he couldn't hold out.

After Li Yifeng left, Bao Feiyang thought about going to the second-floor interrogation room to observe the interrogation of Gong Dali. Fang Xuewen and Director Zhang immediately rejected his request, saying that as a student, some interrogation procedures were not suitable for him to watch.

Bao Feiyang had no choice but to stay in the first-floor office and wait for news with Fang Xuewen and Director Zhang.

At 11:00 PM, there was no news from the interrogation room.

At midnight, there was still no news from the interrogation room.

By 1:00 AM, there was still no news.

Fang Xuewen couldn't sit still and stood up, "I'll go check on the interrogation room upstairs."

Bao Feiyang and Director Zhang were left in the room.

Another hour passed with no news.

Another hour passed, still no news.

Director Zhang looked at his watch; it was already 3:30 AM. He couldn't sit still either and muttered, "Is Gong Dali's backbone that hard?"

He then walked out, leaving Bao Feiyang alone in the office.

Bao Feiyang was initially confident that they could get Gong Dali to confess. After all, he was just a village committee chairman, what big scenes had he seen? Once the interrogation measures were applied, he would surely confess. But seeing the current situation, he gradually began to worry. What if Gong Dali refused to confess? Without getting Gong Dali to talk, how could they catch the person behind him?

As time ticked by, the sky outside was beginning to lighten. Bao Feiyang looked at the time; it was almost 6:00 AM. He couldn't sit still anymore and got up to go to the second-floor interrogation room.

When he arrived at the interrogation room upstairs, he saw Fang Xuewen and Director Zhang sitting outside in silence. Mei Lifeng and another police officer were sitting on a long bench, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. Through the window, Gong Dali was seen handcuffed to a chair, covered in blood, and looking disdainfully out the window.

Bao Feiyang's heart sank. He hadn't expected Gong Dali to be such a tough nut to crack!